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November 4, 2010 // 3:39pm ET
Defensemen precious commodity in
NHL
CHICAGO, IL -- After winning the Stanley
Cup in June, the Chicago Blackhawks embarked on a house cleaning
project never before seen from a reigning champion. Ten players and
one assistant coach are gone and the Hawks are now trying to get their
new faces up to speed while dealing with injuries.
Just 13 games into the new season, Chicago GM Stan Bowman has started
answering questions about next summer. Brent Seabrook can become a
restricted free agent at the end of the 2010-11 season and is priority
number one for Bowman.
Bowman’s situation is far from unique, as NHL General Managers have
already started working on their blue line. Zdeno Chara received a
seven-year extension just hours before the Bruins opened their season
in Europe and the Flames have handed Mark Giordano a five-year
extension as well.
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Many were surprised when San Jose GM Doug
Wilson, who was a top defenseman in his own right, extended a
four-year, $14M offer sheet to Niklas Hjalmarsson of the Blackhawks
this past summer. If the Blackhawks had not matched, the Sharks would
have forfeited a first round draft choice to acquire the young
defenseman; the salary and loss of draft pick would have been a heavy
price for a guy that had only scored 21 points in regular season 111
games.
If Hjalmarsson is worth that much, how far would a GM go to get his
hands on one of the free agents that could be on the market next
summer?
Seabrook has spent his entire career as Duncan Keith’s partner on
Chicago’s blueline but in the Winter Olympics it was LA’s Drew Doughty
playing next to the Norris Trophy-winner. Doughty, like Seabrook, is
scheduled to become a restricted free agent next summer.
At only 20, Doughty presents a mind-numbing scenario for Kings
management, especially under the new cap restrictions. If Chara, at
34, is worth seven years and nearly $7M per, how much is a Norris
Finalist that hasn’t finished puberty going to ask for?
Is Doughty worth enough that their other restricted free agent-to-be
on the blueline, Jack Johnson, finds himself in a similar situation to
the one that had Dan Hamhuis moving from Nashville to Philadelphia to
Pittsburgh to Vancouver?
In Chicago and LA, the defensemen they want to keep have become the
focus. Similarly, the Montreal Canadiens have been rumored to be
working on a deal to keep Andrei Markov, who will be unrestricted, in
a Habs sweater.
In a few other cities, the question in this economy becomes a choice
between a team being able to afford a salary or sustain the loss of a
player.
Shea Weber, who won’t turn 26 until next August, will achieve RFA
status when the Predators season ends. He’s already making $4.5M per,
and could be asking for somewhere in the neighborhood of $6M per
season moving forward.
But there isn’t a player on the Nashville roster with a cap number
over $4.5M right now, and whether or not the Preds are willing to open
the vault for Weber could make him the most attractive player without
a contract on the summer trade market. |
Weber isn’t the only defenseman that could
be available next summer, though.
Atlanta’s Zach Bogosian and Toronto’s Luke Schenn are both
20-year-olds with a lot of potential. Neither has the leverage of
Doughty but their birthdays will make them intriguing restricted free
agents next summer.
The trickle-down (or up) from players like Giordano getting five years
could force a lot of good blueline depth onto the trade market soon as
teams watch the trade value of players shrink with each game they play
during this season.
The Thrashers will have to make a decision on Dustin Byfuglien, who is
playing on the blueline for the Thrashers this season. If he plays as
well as Thrashers GM Rick Dudley believes he will, Big Buff will
likely demand a raise from his $3M salary. History indicates that the
Thrashers don’t pay, so the strong start from Byfuglien may push him
onto the trade market.
While there isn’t a headline-grabbing defenseman approaching
unrestricted free agency other than Markov, a team looking to add
depth could find a few nice pieces on the open market. Ian White, Andy
Greene and James Wisniewski could all become popular options if/when
their current teams decide to sell.
And we haven’t even started talking about Tomas Kaberle yet.
Meanwhile, the standings look like they’ve been arranged by
Shake-and-Bake, so very few teams will feel like they’re out of it any
time soon. Teams usually don’t become buyers and sellers until at
least December, but injuries and the salary cap could expedite the
decision making process for some teams this year.
So which side wins: compete or save money? And how do GMs like Bowman
try to do both?
Tab Bamford covers the Chicago Blackhawks for
The Fourth Period Magazine
and is a Columnist for TheFourthPeriod.com.
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